Now You See It: A Narration
by Google Girl11
Summary: The movie with more Alyson/Danny narrated by moi. I'm trying to stick as close to the main plot as possible. All i'm really adding are the Danny/Alyson moments.
1. Only One Way To Find Out

Author's Note: Ok, so I totally watched "Now You See It…" on the Disney Channel a few days ago and was totally disappointed with the ending. C'mon people, tell me you saw the hinted Alyson/Danny too! I'm gonna just reassure myself that they couldn't have an romantic shipping since Johnny was 24-ish and Aly was only 16 at the time. And if that wasn't the reason, then the writers just suck. Alyson/Danny is ssooo cute!

Anyways, I'm ranting. I'm just writing this because I wanted to make an Alyson/Danny fic. That's pretty much it. So this will be a … pretty much a narration of the movie, with an Alyson/Danny ship.

Now, to the story!

Erm, disclaimer first.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the plot.

Alyson woke up that morning, in a good mood. A great mood even. Her dream of being a producer was one step closer. She was hired to be a segment producer for a new reality TV show, Best Kid Magician.

She loved magic. Though she didn't believe in it, Alyson loved it. It was more of the figuring out of the tricks that she loved best. Not to toot her own horn, but Alyson liked to think of herself as a Master Puzzle Solver. Math and science were two of her favorite classes- some people thought that they were hard, but the questions in those classes all had answers. And how to get those answers was what Alyson knew best. Unfortunately, her smarts and readiness to answer questions was what set her apart from her peers.

Not that Alyson didn't try to fit in…more like she just wasn't good at it. She pretended to be into lip gloss, high fashion, all that jazz, but she just couldn't keep up the character that long. Alyson wanted to be a producer, not an actor. That's what Alyson told herself when she was ostracized. Not that it helped much.

Stepping out of the shower and onto her pink fuzzy bath rug, Alyson put a glob of toothpaste on her toothbrush and started brushing. Up down. Left right. She spat into the sink and started on her blonde hair. Torn between straightening it or letting it naturally curl, the time made the decision for her.

"Oh crap," she muttered. "I only have half an hour before I start walking. And what should I wear?"

Alyson was very much a perfectionist. Though she picked out an outfit the night before, when she tried it on, it didn't make her appear "producer-ish." Rummaging through her closet, Alyson finally decided on a pair of kakis and navy blue tank top layered under a teal sweater. Adding funky (funky good) accessories was next as a blue flower was pinned to her sweater. Bangles were forced past her hand and onto her wrist and a watch was strapped to her other wrist. After carefully applying her mascara and eye liner, swiping lip gloss on her lips, and giving an approving nod to her reflection in her mirror, Alyson was off to the studio to get her assignment.

--

"Everybody take a seat please!" announced Mrs. McAlister. She was the head producer of the television show, and Alyson's boss.

Alyson made sure to pick a seat in the front row, where she could be seen. Eagerly, Alyson beamed at Mrs. McAlister, with a notebook on her lap, pen ready to take notes.

"This is the first show in television history made completely by kid producers," continued Mrs. McAlister. "And I'm sad to say that not all of you will remain with us. Only the kids that will discover the three top magicians will stay with us through the grand finale. Think you are all up for it?"

Shooting out of her seat, Alyson spoke up, "Oh, definitely!"

"Good," said Mrs. McAlister, giving Alyson an awkward smile.

Glancing around the room, Alyson realized that it was a rhetorical question. She didn't mean to draw attention to herself, well, ok, she did, but only because she wanted to impress the higher ups, not because she knew that she would be the only one standing. Giggles were heard from around the room and Alyson felt stupid. Smiling dumbly, Alyson sat back down. "Way to start, Al," she scolded herself.

"Thank you," chuckled Mrs. McAlister, obviously thinking that Alyson's action was a bit…over zealous.

Looking over her shoulder, Alyson saw a cute boy behind her, smirking. She felt red. This was school all over again for her. Not even an hour in, and she was an outcast. Now who said summer was a break from school?

"Ok, before we proceed, what is the single most important rule in making television?" asked Mrs. McAlister.

Alyson knew this was not a rhetorical question. She also knew the answer. Her hand shot up. "Oh!"

That jerk that she thought was cute was apparently a smart ass too. "Make sure they spell your name right in the credits."

Slightly peeved that he didn't raise his hand, Alyson was even more annoyed that Mrs. McAlister laughed at his joke. "That's true," she smiled. Pointing to Alyson, she asked, "Yes, and you are?"

Alyson beamed. "Alyson Miller. I think the most important rule of good television is to always keep your camera rolling. "

"Excellent. I couldn't have said it better," praised Mrs. McAlister.

"Actually, you did," admitted Alyson. "I remembered it from a quote you gave in an interview with TV Weekly. October of 2002."

"Wah, well, I'm glad at least one of you came here prepared," replied a somewhat shocked Mrs. McAlister. Alyson smile proudly. "Now, it is my pleasure to introduce you to someone I'm sure you are all familiar with, he is both a world renown magician and the host of our new show, please welcome, the amazing Mr. Max."

Alyson clapped politely as Max came on stage. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen. 100 of teen magicians between the ages of 10-16 became eligible for the show by figuring out the hidden message in this poster. It appeared on billboards, magazines, in newspaper and on the internet. Hidden somewhere on this ad is a secret message. Just out of curiosity, did any of you happen to find it?"

Max was referring to a large poster behind him. It showed a magician in a top hat and suit pulling out a white rabbit from another hat. Cards were being pulled out of the hat as well with the words, "Search of the World's Greatest Kid Magician" scrolled on top. In the far upper right corner, a statue with a spider web in the background was holding a book. If you didn't look closely, it could have been overlooked.

Again, Alyson's hand shot up. "Big surprise," muttered the guy behind her, causing the room to snicker.

Choosing to ignore him, Alyson strolled up boldly on stage when she was called on. "Well, as we all know," Alyson started. "Magicians' secret to any good trick is misdirection. That means they want you to focus on something over here," she gestured to her left, "when they are doing some hocus pocus over there," she gestured to her right. "So, most people thought the message would be found in the magician and his trick because that's what first draws your eye, but truth is, it's the background things you need to focus on.

"The spider web in the background made me think that it would have to be found on a website. Looking closer, I noticed the statue holding the book, 'A Farewell to Arms.' Then BAM! It hit me!" Alyson clapped her hands for emphases. "Everyone knows that the Venus de Milo is a statue with no arms. And that made me think of the famous magician of the Magic Mansion. A magician named Antonio de Milo. I mean, how obvious could it be?" Throwing her hands up in the air, Alyson concluded, "I went online, typed in 'deMilo. net'and got linked directly to the entry form! Simple, right?"

Eye rolls around the room, giggles from the girls and a "Sure" from the jerk behind her made Alyson's smile falter. There she was, being a know it all again.

"Thank you Alyson," said Max, handing her a flower out of mid air. Accepting gratefully, Alyson thanked him and made her way back to her seat, aware that all eyes were on her.

She knew that she wasn't the best at making friends. Coming off as a know it all was not what she tried to do, it just…happened. It wasn't her fault that everyone had questions and she just happened to have the answers. Alyson wished that she had a kid her age that she could relate to. Hell, just anyone to relate to would have been nice. But Alyson was a tough girl, she knew that she could manage by herself. And so she did.

--

The next day passed as a blur. She briefly remembered being introduced to her kid camera man, Cedric, and her adult mentor, Paul. And that jerk that she happened to sit in front of was named Hunter. Thank God he wasn't on her team. Alyson gave a tiny whoop of joy. Noticing that she was still in the studio, she covered up by saying, "I'm just so excited to get started!" Which, in a way, was true. She had no idea what she was in for.

First stop was some ice cream shop to talk to this kid "Blake." More like "fake." After ordering Paul to tie him up tight in a straight jack, clearly attempting to reenact one of Houdini's famous escapes, Alyson had to watch the poor kid attempt to free himself, succeeding in only making him look like a fool and causing Alyson to feel stupid. After managing to get himself stuck in a garbage can, Alyson and her team gave up on Blake and moved on to magician number two.

Magician number two wasn't anyone impressive either. He had a trick with boxes with hidden compartments. Alyson thought that anyone could pull off this trick…and this kid could have too had he not gone and used his dog as his "assistant." Half way through the trick, the dog stuck its head out of the bottom and spoiled the trick. So Alyson's team moved on.

And on. And on. The magicians just kept getting worse. If that was even possible. There was the "is-this-your-card" girl, which Alyson swore she went through the deck twice still not finding her card and so she just made up her card and agreed to which ever one came up next. After that, was the "linking rings" girl. Then the "my-hat-is-magic" guy, who just managed to dump egg on Alyson's head after he forgot the main part of the trick. The rest just blurred together. One disappointment after the other. "Impressively pathetic" is how Alyson would have described them.

Alyson was distraught. Here they were, down to their last contestant. His name was Daniel Sinclair. And he was Alyson's last hope.

They reached the house at about noon. Long car rides did not help the mood of despair for Cedric and Alyson. Dragging themselves out of the car, they were greeted by two very excited parents.

"This is all Danny has been talking about for weeks. Come on in!" invited Mr. Sinclair.

All Alyson could manage was a half hearted, "Sure, awesome, perfect, yeah," and then forced her feet to follow them into the house. In a way, Alyson was glad that this was the last contestant. No more pained auditions to go through, no more being the assistant to a kid that had no clue what he was doing, no more getting hopes up and having them crushed. Then again, that meant no more producing. Her career would be over before it even started. What a depressing thought.

Alyson climbed the stairs to Danny's room. Knocking on his door, she entered and saw a boy blowing up a giant balloon. Tapping him on the shoulder, Alyson managed to get his attention, and caused him to lose the balloon. Bracing herself for the impact of a balloon possibly hitting her, Alyson opened her eyes and grinned sheepishly at the boy in front of her.

He was cute, she could admit that. His hair was brown and cut short, but had the look that he ran his hands through it constantly, like when he was deep in thought. Eyes the color of the ocean met her deep green ones and Alyson felt…something. This guy was something. Danny smiled shyly. "Welcome."

Alyson smiled back, but knew that this was not the time for small talk. He was either a complete waste of time and destroyer of her career, or he was a god send. She had to find out. "So…" she began. "You have any tricks to show us?"

Danny smirked and tugged on his balloon. "Only one way to find out."

--

Author's Note: Sorry, poop load of dialogue. And then ff. net was being ghey and kept deleting things that i wrote. Please review if you like it. If you don't like it, then flame if you must.

And if you find any annoying grammar mistakes, please let me know. :)


	2. He Slammed The Door In Her Face Again

Author's Note: I have none. Enjoy :D

Oh, and some of the crazy outfits are from the movie, since I have zero fashion sense and therefore can not make up my own. But there are one or two outfits that I didn't like, so I'm just gonna go let her wear something eh at times. Sorry in advance if the mental image sucks. .

Disclaimer: I am the queen of unoriginality. I own nothing.

Alyson couldn't help getting her hopes up. And she thought she was getting so good at keeping them down, but when Danny blew up a balloon, waved his hand around it three times and it popped…Alyson couldn't help but feel crushed. She spoke, hoping that her voice didn't break too badly, "Is this the…popping balloon trick?"

"No, no, see, what's suppose to happen is that I pop the balloon, and a dove will appear," explained Danny. "I've done it a million times. Just give me another try."

Alyson was skeptic, but she had nothing left. She motioned for Danny to try again. And again. By the fifth time, she tried to help. "Maybe you should try a different trick?"

His rejection of her idea was almost scary. "NO. I can do this. Just back off, give me a second."

But Alyson didn't back down. "Do you need help? An assistant? Different -"

"I'm gonna do it. You just need to back off, alright?" Danny was clearly pissed. More at himself then Alyson, but she was the one taking all the heat.

Alyson calmed down. She realized something. "This really matters to you, huh?"

He sighed. "More then you can possibly know."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I seriously need this to happen too." Alyson tried not to smile. _Ok, so me and him just had our "we are both in the same boat talk." Now he will be able to do the trick. That's what always happened in the movies._ Alyson let her hopes rise. "You are my last chance."

"And you are mine," he admitted to her. "So let's just do this. This time, this time it will definitely, definitely work." Alyson gave him a reassuring smile.

But he let her down. Repeatedly. Times that by like two. Danny went through a whole package of balloons. And none produced the dove.

Dejectedly, Alyson gave him a last glance, and walked out of the room. She didn't want to speak. She was doing her best to stop from crying. "Bye kid," Paul said as he exited.

"But, please, wait!" cried out Danny. "I can do it, just give me another chance. Please…" Cedric's parting "Peace" was their final words to Danny.

Once they got outside, Alyson had to deal with Cedric. "I bet the only reason we took a bajillion takes of that guy was because Alyson thought he was cute."

Whipping around, Alyson retorted, "The only reason we did 'a bajillion takes' was because our other nine magicians really sucked." Alyson was in disbelief. "I just can't believe I'm going to be off the show." She kicked a rock for emphases.

"Hey now, you don't know that. One of our other magicians could still get picked," offered Paul.

"You seriously think so?" questioned Alyson.

"Naw. But I'm the mentor, I have to say those kinds of things," laughed Paul. Alyson just glared.

Paul remote opened the trunk of the car and when the back popped open, Paul, Alyson and Cedric were rushed at by birds escaping from the car. After fighting her way out of their flight path, Alyson turned to Cedric, "Please tell me you were taping that."

"I'm rolling, I got it, I got it!" cheered Cedric from behind the camera.

"Cedric, you rock!" squealed Alyson, ecstatic from the renewed hope.

"Wow man, this kid is good!" gushed Cedric, still taping.

"You think Danny did this?" asked Paul, slight awe in his voice.

"Of course, who else?" stated Alyson. She turned to the window that she knew Danny was watching from. Instead of seeing joy on his face…it was more like fear. That look was something that would eat at Alyson for a while.

--

Alyson and her team hurried back to the studio. She nervously watched Max analyze the tape. Finally, he spoke. "You are right, Alyson. Very impressive." Alyson and Cedric shared a high five. "Very impressive indeed."

"See what I told you?" gloated Alyson. "Unbelievable."

"Ha, that's right. Unbelievable," sneered Hunter. "Her and that Danny kid set it up. They've been scamming us from the start."

"We were not!"

"Oh get real. There is no way he pulled that off, unless you helped," challenged Hunter.

"Ok, Alyson wouldn't do something like that," defended Mrs. McAlister. "She knows the rules. Colluding with a contestant is an automatic disqualification."

"Well, we all know how much she likes to be the best at everything," insulted Hunter. Alyson flinched. That one brought back memories.

"I was there. And so was Paul. It was all real!" exclaimed Cedric.

"They are on her team. Big deal. They might be as big a cheat as she is," accused Hunter. Alyson glared, low blow, insulting her mentor.

"Honestly, I think this Danny kid is the real deal," stated Paul.

Max seemed to value Paul's opinion highly. "Well then, I guess we found our last contestant."

Alyson couldn't stop grinning even if she wanted to.

--

She really did have way too many ideas for her brain. In a way, she felt bad that Danny was sitting next too her when she was like this. Alyson didn't want to scare him with being over excited, but then again, she watched all these reality TV. She knew how this worked. She was also afraid that if she stopped talking, all she would do is stare. At him. Which she would have no problem with, but Alyson bet that would have been extremely awkward for Danny.

At the moment, she was currently approving of the whole "Opps-I-failed-my-trick-act…just-kidding-here-are-doves-in-your-trunk" act. "That would be the perfect approach to this show. That will make the audience love you….you can come up with something like that again, right?" asked Alyson. She nervously pulled on the strings of her gray, Thomas Edison High School hoodie. Normally, she wouldn't dress this bummy, but it was a 16 hour train ride to the Magic Mansion, and being on a train that long was not going to settle well with Alyson if she wasn't comfortable. Tugging at a string on her fashionably destroyed jeans, Alyson nudged him when he didn't reply.

"Oh, sure, sure," answered Danny, blowing off her question.

Sighing, Alyson went on with her spiel. "Ok then, next thing is costumes. I want some thing classy but not too flashy. Definitely not some 'all black funeral guy' look." Alyson was getting all excited. "You need a … a gimmick! Flashing lights, exploding wands…"

Her idea pitch was slowed by Danny's sarcastic, "Wow."

Alyson wanted to pout. Danny was so not cooperating with her. And she could not seem to get his attention. Which was not the cause with Brandon, Hunter's magician. "Hey Alyson, pick a card," he suggested.

With a glance at Danny, who was showing interest her now, Alyson drew a card. It was the ace of hearts. She looked at it, showed it to Danny, then put it back in Brandon's deck. "Okay, now all I want you to do is say 'jump.'"

Obediently, Alyson said, "Jump."

A card flew out of Brandon's deck, flipped in the air and landed in Brandon's hand. He showed her the ace of hearts. "This your card?" he asked smugly.

"Whoa! Wow," said Alyson. "That was so cool!"

"Yeah, that's pretty good. I think it's pretty good," replied Brandon with a wink.

Alyson saw Danny glare. He reached across her to grab the deck, facing it towards Brandon, he ordered, "Pick a card."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "You want me to pick a card? Sure."

"Got it memorized?" A nod from Brandon meant he did. "Ok, now put it back in the deck, any where." Brandon did what he was told.

All this was happening in front of Alyson and she tried to watch Danny do his trick, to learn the secrets. She snuck a glance at him, and he winked at her before he threw the deck. Alyson watched as the jack of diamonds appeared stuck in the glass of the window of the train. Brandon seemed amazed as he had to open the window and stick his hand out to retrieve it. "That your card?" asked Danny, reclining back in his seat.

"That's my card!" gasped Brandon, in disbelief.

"Oh my gosh! That was awesome!" cheered Alyson, giving Danny a pat on the chest. "Dang, you are super good!"

Danny had gone back to his detached mood and was just gazing out the window. Alyson sighed. "You know, this whole, 'mopey, droopy' thing you have going on is just not going to work for TV. Too boring." Alyson was met with an eye roll. She faced him and drew her legs up to her chair and rested her chin on her knees. "You don't want to get in the habit of rolling your eyes. It will give you problems later."

Her only answer was Danny shutting off the light and plunging them into darkness.

--

Alyson hated the TV whoevers that made them take the train. Maybe it was cheaper, but it sure was uncomfortable. Alyson had tried a number of positions to sleep in, all of them failing her. Fact about Alyson. She was NOT a person that could manage without sleep. She needed her 10 hours of sleep or there would be hell to pay. At the moment she was up to 2 hours of sleep. If Danny thought she was unbearable now, just wait until the morning, he'll be wishing she was acting like last night. Why did she ever let him convince her into giving up her window seat?

Letting her eyes adjust to the light, Alyson looked at Danny. He was leaning against the window, breathing smooth and easy. He had to be asleep. Glancing around, she realized that everyone else was asleep. Everyone but her. She let out a groan. She was desperate. Checking one last time at the room, Alyson leaned her head on Danny's shoulder, and let sleep take her.

--

The movement was what woke her, but Alyson refused to open her eyes. "Five more minutes," she mumbled before snuggling deeper into the…wait.

Alyson woke up. She found herself curled into her seat with both her arms wrapped around Danny's. Apparently, she was snuggling into his shoulder. Detangling herself from him, Alyson looked up to find Danny staring out the window. Secretly thankful that she did not drool in her sleep, Alyson fixed herself so that she was sitting normally in her chair. Everyone else appeared to be asleep still.

"Um…sorry…" was all that Alyson could manage to say. She felt lame. And embarrassed.

"It's cool." Danny was detached which made Alyson slightly annoyed. She could not get an emotion out of this guy!

"How far are we?" she asked.

"Still a bit. You can go back to sleep," suggested Danny, though moving tilting his body away from her and pretending to be very interested in the outside world.

Alyson just got blown off. Ouch. Though it happened to her a lot, especially at school, it never seemed to sting any less. "I'm just going to walk around." Stretching, Alyson got up. Her limbs hurt from the awkward position she slept in. She toyed with the idea of inviting Danny but she just stopped. "You are wel- … nevermind."

If he heard her, he didn't look like it. Alyson knew that he wouldn't have accepted anyways. Stupid anti-social cute broody boys.

Alyson really had a reason for getting up-nature was calling. She hurried past their car to the next. And then the next. And still nothing. Alyson was getting worried. And she could find zero people to ask. Figures.

After the third time of hurrying past his seat, Danny asked, "What are you doing?"

Torn between acting like he wasn't there, since that seemed to be what he did with her until she got on his nerves, and really needing the bathroom, Alyson managed to say, " I have to use the bathroom super super super bad…and I can't find one! Like at all!"

Alyson was almost at the point where she'd have to cross her legs and do the bathroom dance, but she couldn't helped but smile when Danny let out a small bark of laughter. Shaking his head, he got up and led her to two cars in front of theirs to a bathroom off in the corner.

Rushing past him, Alyson made it to the bathroom just in time. Exiting, she had to give him a smile of thanks. "You, Daniel Sinclair, are my hero."

Danny was leaning again a wall on the opposite side of the bathroom, which reassured Alyson that he could not hear her in the bathroom. "Well then," he gave her a wolfish grin. "Why don't you buy your hero some food? I'm starving."

Lightly punching him in the arm, Alyson couldn't help but grin back. "Fine. But let's not be pricey."

--

Alyson's eyes widened when she saw the amount of food piled up on Danny's tray. There was enough there for three whole meals. Noticing her look, Danny explained, "I'm a growing boy, I need my food."

Danny made it up to Alyson though. She didn't have to pay for anything, and he even bought her a blueberry muffin, just for her. She was amazed by his transformation. Here was the boy that was a mopey, anti-social pain in the butt only hours before, and then now, here he was, making Alyson actually enjoy his company.

She took the time to exam Danny. He wore the bed head look well. And he really did have a cute smile. Alyson remembered when he grinned at her. A girl could melt from it.

"So, it's a wonder what a good night's sleep can do to someone's crabbiness," joked Alyson as she picked at her blueberry muffin.

"Well don't get used to it," warned Danny. "Once we are off this train and I can distance myself from you guys, then I will."

Alyson mentally hit herself. She totally killed the mood. Her smile faltered and she lost her eye contact with Danny, acting more interested in her muffin then him. She was an idiot.

Attempting to regain the friendliness that they had before, Alyson offered, "Here, let me pay for my muffin."

"No, think of it as a gift. That's the only thing I'm ever going to get you," replied Danny sharply. A few seconds later, Danny put his dishes away and walked back to his seat, leaving Alyson behind with her muffin.

"Thanks," answered Alyson meekly. Yup, Alyson definitely effed up that time.

--

By the time Alyson returned to her seat, Danny had on his iPod and was gazing out the window. Sighing Alyson happened to make eye contact with Brandon, and was forced to spend the remainder of the train trip "picking cards." She was suddenly agreeing that this whole "gimmick" idea was a bad idea. And she was thankful that Danny didn't use them, because if she had to "pick a card" one more time, Alyson was sure that she would "jump."

--

They were suppose to arrive at the mansion around noon the next day, but a "technical difficulty" kept them on longer. Much longer. So that meant more awkward silence with Danny. Alyson really hated trains.

Finally, the train arrived at the train station, and the trek to the Magic Mansion started. And pretty much ended. After a five minute drive, the teens were dropped off at the end of a long driveway. Alyson walked up it in awe.

The mansion itself seemed to be old; the odd light on here and there made the house seem even eerier. The dark night sky help aid the house with it's mysterious look. Ivy grew tall along the fence and walls and the yard seemed to be full of night wild life. A hoot from an owl made Alyson jump.

Entering, they were greeted by Max. Dressed in his normal black attire, Max smiled. "Welcome to the Magic Mansion. And congratulations to our three finalists on making it this far in the competition."

"It's a real honor to meet you," greeted Zoe, the third kid magician as she shook Max's hand. "I'm Zoe."

"And I'm Brandon," beamed Brandon, also extending his hand.

Danny rolled his eyes and frowned, not impressed with Brandon. When Max held out his hand to Danny, Danny shook it. "I'm Danny."

"Yes, I've been looking forward to meeting you, Danny," replied Max, a twinkle in his eye. Letting go of Danny's hand, Max turned to the group. "I'd like for you all to think of this as your home. Follow me."

Danny threw a backwards glance at Alyson and smiled when he met her eyes. She smiled back, noticing how excited to be here he was. And how could he not? In the front room alone, there were three other magicians, practicing their tricks. The room itself was beautiful; decorated in antique circus furniture and yet giving off a magical aura.

"In all it's history, a very few people have been allowed in the Magic Mansion," lectured Max. "That's because every secret known to man and then some are hidden beneath these walls. For the remainder of this competition, you can use any prop, any book, any object, any illusion we have, and I suggest you take advantage of it. Remember, you never know how strong your magic is…until you test it." Max started to walk away, but then turned back to the group. "Oh, and one more thing- you might want to search your pocket for your room keys."

All around the room, the kids checked their pockets. Allison found hers and squealed, looking over at Danny to see his face all confused. He was checking his pockets, and appearing to have found nothing.

"Oh, Danny," smirked Max. He made a flick of his wrist and a key appeared in his hand. Tossing the key to Danny, Max left the group.

"Eep!" squealed Alyson, squeezing Danny's shoulders. Just because he said that he wasn't going to be her friend, doesn't mean that she wouldn't be his. Plus, she wasn't that easy to get rid of. Her and Danny had a moment of friendship once, they could have it again. Alyson was sure of it.

--

Heading to their rooms, Alyson told Danny her game plan. "Ok, here's how it is, Danny. From here on out, you and I are gonna be like this." She crossed her middle and index fingers and held them up to his face. "I wanna know everything about you: what you are doing and what you are thinking 24 hours a day, everyday."

"Right now, I'm thinking that this is my room," answered Danny, pointing to a door.

Alyson nodded. At least he was following the plan. "So?"

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow," answered Danny. He entered, and Alyson did too.

"Now wait a minute," she dropped her bags. "We aren't done talking here."

Danny's face came close to hers, causing her to take a step back. "Well one of us is." He tried to shut the door, but Alyson had her hand against it, forcing it open. "You are blocking my door."

"So?" Alyson tilted her head. She was determined to make some sort of head way with him.

"So can we continue this tomorrow please? I kinda have things I need to take care of," stated Danny, voice straining to remain calm.

"What kind of things?" asked Alyson, still refusing to move.

"None of your business."

Alyson took a deep breath. "Danny, I don't think you are getting it. Everything about you here IS my business. My business is to follow your every move."

Looking towards the Cedric, Danny asked the camera, "Who is this girl?" Cedric shrugged. Danny sighed.

"Look. I've watched like a gazillion hours of these shows. Even the really gross ones where they have to eat larva and dive into-"

"Well what's your point?" cut off Danny.

It was Alyson's turn to sigh. "The contestants that get the most screen time are the ones who are wildly charismatic, extremely competitive and have usually overcome some type of heartbreaking obstacle."

"Right now, the only heart breaking obstacle in my life is you!" snapped Danny.

"C'mon, please!" begged Alyson. She perked up. "We're a team!"

"Oh yeah? Well then, how about a team cheer?" suggested Danny. Alyson smiled. "Go team, GO!" And with that last word, Danny shut the door in Alyson's face.

Alyson turned to find Cedric laughing. And still recording. Her glare shut him up. Pounding on the door, Alyson shouted, "Danny? Come on, open up!"

To her surprise, it did.

"Look, there are things about me you are not going to understand no matter how much we talk, so how about we make a deal? I promise I will do whatever I can to win this for you as long as the rest of the time, you leave me alone," stated Danny. When he saw Alyson try to say something, he shut the door. In her face. Again.

Stomping off to her own room, Alyson realized something. Daniel Sinclair was a puzzle, and they didn't call her the Puzzle Master for nothing.

--

Author's Note: Ok, plot moving kinda. I added the train sleeping scene just because. -shrug- Let me know how you all feel. And I replaced all the "SaintClair's" with "Sinclair" since I was spelling his last name wrong .


	3. Maybe I Will

Author's Note- G'ah, I'm finding it hard to not do what I normally do; which is rushing to the action and ignoring the plot. So please, put up with my slow development of the story. I'm trying to not have any gaps where you guys are like "wah?" So yeah. To the story!

Disclaimer- Yeah, yeah. I own nothing. Blah blah blah.

The next morning Alyson woke up early, intending to pry into Danny's life and develop some theories. Unfortunately for her, Danny didn't come down for breakfast. In fact, she didn't see him until about 15 minutes before Max's meeting was to begin.

When Danny walked in, Alyson waved her hand in the air wildly. "Here Danny! I saved you a spot!" Alyson patted the seat next to her and beamed when Danny grudgingly rolled his eyes, but came and sat next to her. "Good morning, Sleepyhead! You missed breakfast."

Danny slouched in his seat, resting his foot on the seat in front of him. His head rested on the hand farthest from Alyson, and Alyson could almost see the gears in his head, debating whether to keep ignoring her or to acknowledge her. Finally, he turned towards her. "I don't eat breakfast."

Alyson clicked her tongue at him. "Tisk tisk Danny. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! In fact-"

She was cut off by Max, who just now entered on stage. He smiled at her, causing Alyson to blush and stop talking, muttering a weak, "I'm sorry." Alyson saw Hunter smirk. Sighing at herself, Alyson shook her head and focused on Max.

"My mentor, and the founder of this mansion, Antonio de Milo was once asked, 'What is a magician's greatest asset?' and he replied, 'A-" Max was cut off by Danny.

"A magician's greatest asset is the ability to think in unusual ways," stated Danny. Alyson beamed at him. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Well that was very good," said Max, clearly impressed. "And yes, the ability to think in unusual ways. Which is the grounds for our first challenge. Watch carefully." Max stood on stage. "You'll have a basketball." He held out his hand, and caught a basketball out of thin air. Alyson inhaled sharply. Her reaction was not alone. "Wow's" were heard from around the room. "A rope." Max pulled a rope from out of his fist. "A broom, a 10 gallon aquarium and…a bed sheet." With a wave of his hand, a bed sheet floated on top of the items. The room clapped, impressed with his act. "Five very different yet common household items. And you have exactly 30 minutes to create an illusion using any or all of these items."

Brandon raised his hand. "Just those things and nothing else?"

"Just those things, and nothing else," confirmed Max. He stepped off stage. "And the clock is ticking."

The other two magicians hurried on stage, while Danny just sat on the side. Alyson let him think for 15 minutes, but then she started getting worried when the other two were actually getting their projects started and near completion. Walking over to Danny's step, Alyson decided to step in. "So Danny…Now that you have done all this intense, but not-very-interesting-to-watch thinking, is there anything you want to just hop up and show us? Anything you wanna try? Maybe a charming but futile first attempt?" Alyson shook his arm to make sure he wasn't falling asleep. "Anything?"

Danny just glared at her. "Have I mentioned that you are kinda really making this hard for me to concentrate?"

It was Alyson's turn to roll her eyes. "Ok," she pointed her finger at him, clearly getting pissed. "Maybe you have never watched much TV, but as I said before, it has to be active, it has to be captivating, it has to be- what are you doing?"

During Alyson's speech, Danny just got up and walked off stage. "I can't do this."

Alyson hurried after him. "What do you mean!? You can't mean that. You have to do this."

Danny suddenly turned on Alyson, almost causing her to crash into him. "I should have never came here in the first place. Especially not if I knew I'd end up with you!"

Once again, the painful memories of school came back. She snapped back at him, equally as angry as he was. "You know, you might want to clue me in. What is this really about? Is it stage fright? Are you freaked out about having to perform in front of a bunch of cameras? If you are, I totally understand. Just tell me and we can figure out a way to work on it."

Alyson had managed to calm down during her spiel, but Danny still was in a bad mood. "It's not stage fright!"

"Then what?!" retorted Alyson. "I'm only trying to help."

"Yeah, well you can't!" snapped Danny.

"You know," sighed Alyson. "I'm not the enemy here. Cedric and I are your friends." She gestured to them both. "Right Cedric?" Turning, Danny and Alyson found Cedric falling asleep behind his camera. "Cedric?!" Snapping her fingers in his face, Alyson woke him up. "Attention please, thanks."

"Huh?" Cedric woke up groggily.

"I was trying to assure Danny that he has whatever support he needs because you and I are…here for him."

"Yeah, uh, for sure," replied back Cedric. He gave them a sheepish smile.

Alyson had to force a smile on her face. And she knew it looked that way. Turning back to Danny she answered, "See?"

"Great. Well now that we've established that. Let's just cut the chitter chatter so I can focus on my trick." During this last sentence, Danny had grabbed Alyson's arms and squeezed to makes sure that she was paying attention to him. Cedric had turned back towards the stage and didn't notice Alyson's wince of pain. But Danny did. He immediately let her go.

"Ok, uh, good." Alyson rubbed her arms and turned to go back on stage.

Danny reached on and grabbed her hand. "Alyson, I'm really sorry. It's just…there are some things I can't tell you." He hung his head in shame.

Alyson felt his hand slipping out of hers and entwined their fingers, keeping him near. Tilting his chin up, she offered, "You can try to tell me, you know?" She gave him a small smile.

Smiling back, Danny shrugged. "Maybe another time. I kinda have to get going on this challenge." He let go of her hand and went back on stage to prepare for his trick.

Watching him walk around the items, Alyson smiled to herself. Minor victory for Alyson.

--

Alyson went back to her seat and waited patiently for the challenge to end and the acts to begin. Finally, Danny plopped into the seat next to her. She gave him a smile which he returned, but it didn't look confident. Her question was cut off by Max.

"Hundreds have tried, only three have survived," stated Max. "And now the stakes get even higher. Three kids. Seven days. Only one winner. Who would be the next greatest kid magician?"

Eager to watch the acts, Alyson wished Max would finish his speech faster. She also realized that she was going to have to hear this speech about a hundred more times before the show was over. Stupid reality TV and having to repeat their awesome prices at every possible moment.

Challenge number one started off with Zoe. She used only the bed sheet and the basketball and possibly the rope, Alyson wasn't sure. But Zoe managed to levitate the basketball around her body and nab herself a seven out of a possible ten score from Max. Alyson gulped for Danny, who just happened to be next.

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Alyson, turning to Danny.

He sighed. "Not a clue."

Alyson glared. "I'm not laughing."

"Good," Danny leaned forward. "Cause neither am I." He patted a shocked Alyson's leg before heading up to the stage.

"Um…a fish tank," stated Danny. He brought it to the middle of the stage. "A broom. –"

"Yeah, yeah. A rope, bed sheet and a basketball. We know the items. Show us the trick!" sneered Brandon.

Danny glared at him and looked like he was going to say something, but Max cut in. "Let's just watch."

Holding up the bed sheet to cover the items, Danny turned back to the crowd.  
"They are going to, uh, disappear."

"Yeah right!" shouted Hunter. "You don't stand a snow ball's chance in summer pulling that trick off."

Smirking, Danny answered, "Oh yeah? Just watch and be amazed. One…" Alyson found herself counting along with him. "Two. Three." Danny dropped the bed sheet…to find out that he managed to fill the fish tank with snow, packed so tightly around the broom that it stood straight up, with the rope attached to the basketball, spinning it around the broom.

Everyone was shocked. Alyson was too. She looked at Danny and saw a mix of fear and disappointment on his face. "Very impressive. That's truly original," stated Max.

"Uh, thanks," answered Danny. Surprise was evident on his face, though he tried to play it off.

Hunter had something to say though. "But nothing disappeared! What's with that white stuff?"

Danny reached around into the aquarium. "It's snow. It's real snow!" Amazed by it, he had to smile. "Hey Hunter! Catch!" Danny lobbed Hunter a snowball.

Catching it ungracefully, Hunter got up. "Wait. You said the contestants could only use the five original items. Snow is not one of them."

Standing up, Alyson came to Danny's defense. "That's ridiculous. That was a great trick! The best I've ever seen!"

"That doesn't matter," snapped Hunter. "Rules are rules!" Hunter turned to Max. "Only the original five objects. That's what you said."

"Yes, the rules were to think in unusual ways, which you have done Danny, but it was while using only the originally five objects. So I'm going to give you a three." Max held up the card. Alyson's face fell. Danny just looked pissed off.

"Yes!" cried out Hunter. Sighing at his weird whatever that he manage to make, Danny dodged out of the way as the basketball broke off the rope, into Brandon's hands. Max nodded, signaling that it was Brandon's turn.

"If it is ok, I would like to use an assistant?" asked Brandon, winking at Alyson. She rolled her eyes.

Max nodded. "Danny's right there. Use him."

Brandon looked towards Hunter for help, but seeing as he wasn't going to get any, made his way to the stage. "I call this trick, 'Clean Sweep.'" He pretend to sweep Danny out of the way. Alyson noticed that Danny's eyes were looking blacker. "Now Danny, hold this sheet up like a curtain." Danny did as he was told, but not happily. "Alright Danny, could you raise it up a bit more."

"You know, technically I'm not one of the five original items," teased Danny, tone light but eyes dark.

"Just raise the sheet, ok? Don't be a freak," suggested Brandon, giving Danny a look while attempting to smile for the camera. "And now, for the most amazing feat you have ev-"

His words where cut off. Alyson glanced around worriedly. Some thing was not right.

"Brandon? Brandon?" asked Danny, slowly lowering the sheet. He let it drop, showing the crowd that he was gone.

Murmurs were heard through out the crowd, but then they rose to their feet, clapping. Alyson noticed Danny exchange a look with Max, but then her attention turned in the opposite direction. There was Brandon, shrieking his little head off, strapped to the spinning circle where the magicians throw their trick knives. He was still holding his broom.

Alyson knew something was not right. Why would Brandon be screaming if he knew that this was going to happen? Wasn't it part of his trick? And why was Danny looking so scared?

Hunter started clapping again. When he turned to Max, a ten was in his hand. So Brandon and Hunter were in the lead, then Zoe, then Danny.

Another look was exchanged between Danny and Max, and then Danny ran off stage. Alyson followed.

"Danny, would you slow down? What happened back there?" asked Alyson, slightly out of breath.

Still heading away from her, Danny answered, "It's Brandon's trick, ask him."

"I saw.."

"Saw what?"

"I think you are hiding something," stated Alyson.

"Yeah? Well you are wrong."

"Are you ever going to let me in? If something is going on, maybe I can help!" offered Alyson.

Danny turned on her. "Thanks, but no thanks. I need to sort this out myself."

Alyson sighed. "You know, things would be a lot easier if we weren't always in combat mode with each other! I can't be your friend if you don't give me to work with." Danny wouldn't meet her eyes. "Look…I know I come on kinda strong sometimes. And maybe, well I know I have gotten kinda caught up in trying to figure you out, but I have a feeling we might really like each other if we'd just give the friendship a chance."

Danny looked like he listened, but didn't care. "OK!" he answered, clapping his hands. Then, he turned and entered the hall of mirrors.

Entering after him, Alyson asked, "Can't we try calling a truce for a minute or two?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Wait, so how did Brandon end up on that wheel?" asked Alyson, desperately lost.

"I dunno," answered Danny, choosing his path. "You are the puzzle solver. Why don't you tell me?" And with that, Danny left Alyson in a maze of mirrors, while he escaped somewhere far away from her.

--

Determined to find out what happened earlier that day, Alyson recruited Cedric into helping her discover Brandon's trick. Grabbing a pair of flashlights, the two wandered on stage. "He was here, right? We just need to find the trap door. There has got to be a trap door."

"How should I know? Can't we do this in the morning?" Cedric's voice quivered.

Alyson hunted around the stage with Cedric trailing after her. She thought she heard him whimper. "Uh, Cedric, this may go faster if we split up."

"This place really creeps me out," stated Cedric. "And I don't see a trap door."

"Me neither," replied Alyson. "But there has to be one. There is no way he could have done that trick with no trap door."

"Who cares how Brandon did the trick? I mean, it's past curfew, it's dark. We are gonna get caught!"

"Shhh!" ordered Alyson as she pushed Cedric behind a curtain. "Someone is coming."

Noticing that it was Hunter and Brandon, Alyson came out of hiding. "Hi guys."

The boys flinched from the light. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are; admiring the fine work of the floorboards. Pretty cool trick you did this afternoon."

"Sometimes I even amaze myself," grinned Brandon.

She wasn't swayed. "Sure you do. There's no trap door."

"Uh, yeah. So?"

Flashing her light in his face, Alyson answered, "Let's just say, I have no idea how your trick went off. But I know it wasn't you."

"Okay, so prove it," dared Brandon.

"Maybe I will," answered Alyson calling his bluff. Turning towards the exit, Alyson made her leave.

Author's Note- So the plot moves on! And I think in the next chapter I'll get to this one part I'm super excited about writing, but my neighbor just died, so I have the wake and funeral to go to, then I have to tutor two days this week and long story short, I may get busy. But only one person is reading this story anyways. . so sorry, LazuliteRose, the next update might not be for a bit. 


	4. His Bolting Was Becoming A Habit

Author's Note- Ok, attempting to squeeze one out before my schedule gets too insane.

Disclaimer- I own only the modifications to the scenes.

Alyson managed to sneak back into her room with no difficulties. She kinda liked sneaking around; it made her feel like a real movie producer, digging up dirt on the other contestants, making "real" TV.

A part of her was seriously bothered by the fact that Brandon didn't know how he did his trick. It made her think illogical things. Alyson excelled in her science class and was always a firm believer that magic was fake. All a trick of the hands. She believed that all magic tricks had a logical way of being done…except Brandon's trick. And though she knew it was stupid, Alyson felt there was something going on in this house, something magical.

--

The next morning, Alyson had trouble getting up. Her head felt heavy and her eyes struggled to open. She made a mental note- no more running around in the middle of the night trying to find answers. All she found were more questions…and that it was hard to get up the next morning.

Managing to get to her feet, Alyson hurried through a shower and got ready. Checking her watch, she noticed that she missed breakfast, but still had enough time to get to the second challenge before it started.

When she entered, all eyes were on her. Even Max had beat her. Glancing at Hunter and Brandon, she noticed they looked very awake. Stupid boys and their stupid lack of need for make up or hair styling.

Taking her seat next to Danny, she beamed him a smile. "Good morning."

He grunted at her, focusing on Max, who looked ready to begin the second challenge. Alyson shrugged, happy that he chose to acknowledge her this morning.

"Good morning everyone. I'm trusting that you had a good nights rest." Max looked at Alyson with that last statement and she gave him a thin smile. She didn't really realized the lack of sleep showed that much on her. Guess she was wrong. "Now let's start the second challenge. Each of you have a wand. Etched on that wand is the name of a famous magician. You will be expected to master that magician's unique trick. You may use any prop, book, or room in this mansion to practice. I'll see you in two hours. Good luck."

Brandon pulled out a wand from his pocket. "Harry Blackstone, nice!"

Zoe magically found her wand as well, finding out that her magician was "Alexander Herman."

Riddled with anticipation, Alyson had a very strong feeling that she knew who Danny would get. "Well?"

"Well I haven't- oh. Harry Houdini," answered a shocked Danny when the wand simply "popped" out of no where.

Alyson mentally pumped her fist in the air. She knew it! Grinning at the other contestants, Alyson turned back to Danny. "So where should we sta-…"

But where Danny was previously sitting was empty.

Turning to Cedric, she shook his shoulder a couple times. He was passed out next to her, obviously tired from their exploration the night before. "Wah? … I'm up!" exclaimed Cedric. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Where's Danny?"

"That's what I would like to know!" cried out Alyson, frustrated with the boy that had once occupied the seat next to her and his obvious lack of social skills.

By this time, Brandon and Zoe were off, studying their own tricks. Alyson walked around the foyer, where Brandon happened to be practicing, yet another card trick. "Has anyone seen Danny?" asked Alyson, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Can't say I've been…looking," replied Brandon, doing a sweep of his hand to present Alyson with a bouquet of flowers. "But why not spend the time with me, instead of looking for him?" Brandon gave her a grin.

Giving him a look of disgust, Alyson opened her mouth, but was cut off my Zoe. "Easy cheesy," she warned Brandon. Turning to Alyson, she suggested, "Why not look in the study?"

Sighing, Alyson gave Zoe a look of thanks. "M'kay. Cedric, you get some shots of around here, get some of Zoe and Brandon practicing. I'm going to find Danny," order Alyson, clearly tested.

Leaving the group behind, Alyson opened the big oak doors, the HEAVY oak doors, that led to the library. Having always been outcasted, libraries were Alyson's greatest ally. The books never rejected any person willing to read them, and the quiet walls prevented any mean words to reach her ears. Back in school, Alyson would often just ditch lunch and go to the library and read, or do homework, or just…think.

This one was filled high with books and had a dome cap ceiling with a design so beautiful, Alyson bet she could stare at it for hours, just tracing the design with her eyes. The sun was the main source of lighting for the room, the rays reaching out to cover every inch that it could. Surprisingly, there was only one table in the vast room. Unsurprisingly, it was occupied.

Danny hadn't noticed Alyson when she entered, even though he was facing the doors. Alyson knew that he must have been so entranced by his book that he didn't notice… or maybe he was just that good at ignoring her. Tempted to pull out her handheld camera and start filming without Cedric, Alyson decided she did not want to be ignored anymore.

Leaning over his shoulder, Alyson asked, "Well I don't see any Houdini books lying around in this mess."

She was leaning so close to Danny that she could smell his scent and practically feel the heat radiating off of him. When he didn't jump or act surprise by her being there, Alyson realized that he must have noticed her entrance. He turned his head to the side slightly, to look at her, calling her bluff. "Don't worry," he sneered. "I have that covered."

Their faces were so close, that if Alyson were to turn her head just the teeniest bit towards him, they would be touching. She couldn't help but have a teasing smile on her face as well. She leaned in closer, so that she could reach around and grab the book that was right in front of Danny. "So what's all this about?"

While she was still in the process of leaning over Danny's shoulder, Cedric came in. "Hey Alyson, I've finished…oh, I'm interrupting. Sorry." Cedric turned to exit, but stopped after Alyson called out to him.

"Cedric wait! I was just asking Danny if I could help him… research," cleared up Alyson. Plopping into the seat next to his, Alyson snuck a glance at Danny, who just smirked at her. He raised an eyebrow in an "I win" kinda way. Alyson chose to ignore it.

Timidly, Cedric came closer. "Should I film this?"

"Um, I don't know if that would be interesting. Maybe more action shots of the other magicians?" suggested Alyson, wanting to get Danny alone.

"You're the boss," nodded Cedric, exiting the study.

"'You're the boss,'" mocked Danny sarcastically. "Ow!" he yelped as Alyson whacked him in the back of the head with a thick book.

"So what's with these non-Houdini books?" inquired Alyson.

Still rubbing his head, Danny answered, "Uh, it's kinda a long story."

Settling into her seat, Alyson countered, "I've got time."

Sighing, Danny turned towards her. "Fine, since you are supposedly the Puzzle Master, maybe you can help."

He had Alyson's full attention. "I'd love to!" she offered.

"See, every book or website I've ever read about the Magic Mansion has talked about hidden rooms and secret chambers. And even Max mentioned the mystery that this place holds," explained Danny.

Nodding Alyson absorbed this all in. "Ok, more information please."

"Well, I've been searching through these books that are suppose to tell about the mansion's history but they are no more revealing then anything I could have gotten out of a public library. Where's all the secret stuff? It's gotta be around here some place." Danny closed the book he was reading and ran this hands through his hair, visibly giving up.

All the while Danny was talking, Alyson was examining the books on the table. Inspiration struck her. "Hold on." She frantically searched through the pile on the desk, until she found what she was looking for.

"Wha…what are you doing?" asked Danny, as her rummaging disturbed his giving up.

"Just give me a minute," shushed Alyson, grabbing a book and nearly running off to the shelves. She was stopped by Danny grabbing her wrist.

"Would you please tell me what you are doing?" he pleaded.

"Look at the spine." Alyson pointed to a symbol of a sun with a book in the middle. "See how some of the books have markings on their bindings and some don't?" Danny's look showed that he noticed, but didn't see how that connected. "We need to find all the books with the symbol!"

Alyson watched as something clicked with Danny and bolted from his seat to the shelves. She took it as her turn to go book hunting, too.

Finally, a stack of about 30 books were stacked on the table. "Ok," stated Danny, hands on his hips. "What now?"

"See the marks on these bindings? I'm betting that these are your puzzle pieces pal," said Alyson excitedly. "Now it's up to us to solve it."

Danny was caught up in the excitement, too, for he picked Alyson up and spun her around once, then placed her back on the ground. "Alyson, you are brilliant!"

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Alyson smiled. "Thank you for noticing."

"Don't mention it. Now let's get to work."

Trial and error was what got them to the final clue. The books' markings had formed the picture of two snakes, facing each other when properly stacked. "Wow," said Danny. "Serpents! … two serpents…"

Turning to Danny, Alyson asked, "Do you recognize it?"

"I've seen it…" He turned back to Alyson. "I can't believe you figured this out!"

Blushing, Alyson shrugged. "Com- come on now. Anyone could have figured it out."

"Not me," praised Danny, causing Alyson to blush harder. She tried to hide it. Luckily, Danny found what he was looking for.

Pulling out a map from an older book, Danny searched until he found the symbol. "Here! There it is." He pointed at the serpents on his map.

"What does that mean?" asked Alyson.

"It means, if we want to find where this is leading us… we have to find the symbol!" Danny nearly shouted the last part. Alyson couldn't help but grin. She liked seeing Danny excited. She was glad that the boy COULD get excited. "We find the symbol, we find the secret room," stated Danny, turning towards here, a big smile on his face.

Alyson was completely lost with the whole "secret room" thing, but she was always up for some adventure. She nodded at him.

"Follow me," ordered Danny.

--

Half pulling, half dragging, Danny and Alyson managed to get Cedric to follow them into the basement. As the stairs grew in number and the amount of light lessened, their patience with Cedric dwindled. "Uh, guys? I don't think this is such a great idea…" he complained.

"Would you rather stay here by yourself?" questioned Alyson sharply.

"No…" confirmed Cedric.

Danny led them down to a dead end. He searched the area, but when he met Alyson's questioning look, he stated, "It's suppose to be around here, it must be the other way."

He retraced his steps until they led him to a woodened wall. Finding an odd shaped groove, Danny tugged it to the side and the wall slid to let them pass.

They were in pitch darkness now, with their only light coming from Cedric's camera. The floor was grimy and the air smelled musty to Alyson as she loyally followed Danny, deeper and deeper.

"Guys," whined Cedric. "Let's go back. We shouldn't be here."

Danny ignored him and opened another door, leading to more darkness. Stepping inside, the sound of beating wings and a screech made Alyson close her eyes and start running blindly in any direction. She hit something solid with a thud and realized by the smell that it was Danny. Cowering into his chest, Alyson felt his arms wrap around her protectively and she held her breath.

When the noise died down to just their breathing, Danny asked timidly, "Alyson, are you ok?"

Slowly, Alyson opened her eyes. Feeling her face, then forehead, then hair and reassuring that nothing was wrong, she nodded.

"Ok, good," said Danny, sounding relieved. He took her hand and led her forward. "Now come on. I'll have my cell phone light the way."

Following obediently, Alyson noticed how much darker it was. They no longer had Cedric and his camera. When the bat "attacked," it appeared that the coward had bolted and left them alone. In the dark. With the killer bats. Danny, determined as ever, held his cell phone open, using it to light the way through the darkness. Alyson held on to his hand even tighter. The atmosphere was getting to her. Stupid Cedric making her paranoid.

"Look! It's the symbol!" cried out Danny, picking up the pace to the symbol. He's steps slowed though. "Crap." Danny's symbol was carved into the stone wall. It appeared that they were at a dead end.

"No wait, what's this?" asked Alyson, pointing to letters under the carving. "Bri legat arcane intra reperiel."

"What does that mean?" asked Danny, running his hands through his hair.

"It means, 'Whoever reads books, finds secrets within,'" translated Alyson. She knew taking those three years of Latin was not in vain.

Danny threw his hands up in the air. "Great! Now we need a book!"

He sank to the ground, shutting his phone in the process. Alyson was in pitch darkness. She knew where he was a few seconds ago, but her blind swipe in that direction met nothing but air. "Danny? Dan-" Alyson managed to trip over something. That something was Danny's legs.

The sprawl led her some few feet away from where she fell from. "Danny? Danny, help me find you." Crawling on her hands and knees, Alyson could not help but be disgusted. "How on earth are you sitting on this dirty floor? I'm disgusted crawling on it!"

"Well then stand up," suggested Danny offhandedly, still thinking about the clue and how they were led down this far for nothing.

"What if the bats come back?" whimpered Alyson. "Just stick out your hand in my direction."

THU-whack! Alyson had to stop moving forward. "You just hit my boob."

"Uh, sorry," apologized Danny. "Just grab my hand."

"That really hurt," stated Alyson, still not moving.

Sighing, Danny gave an eye roll that Alyson could not see due to the darkness and grabbed at where he suspected her arm was. He successfully grabbed it and pulled her into his lap. "Shad up you big baby."

Alyson was still before she relaxed into him, giving a giggle. "We are stupid. You could have just opened your phone again."

Danny let out a chuckle. "We used all our smarts figuring out how to get here. And now that we are here, we can't figure out this clue." His tone turned bitter.

"C'mon," said Alyson getting up and offering Danny her hand. "It has to be misdirection." Grabbing his phone and pointing its light at the craving, Alyson noticed that between the snakes was now a book. She grinned. "Look! It's a book! And how do you read a book?"

She watched it register on his face. "You hafta turn the pages!" they cried out together. Grabbing the book, Danny was able to turn it like a knob almost, which allowed them to enter another room.

The next room was shiny. That's how Alyson would have described it. It was a vault, with a big lock, that you had to turn to open. As soon as Danny touched the lock, the door that they entered through had shut. It was a stone door to begin with, and just managed to slide when they turned the book in the carving. Alyson whispered Danny's name, and nodded towards the closed door, indicating that they were trapped.

Grabbing the lock, Danny spun it one way, then the next. One last spin and the vault door opened with a click. Releasing the breath that she didn't even notice she was holding, Alyson breathed out, "How did you do that?"

Pushing the vault door farther open, Danny replied casually, "Lots of practice."

Alyson was going to ask about how that came along, but instead she followed Danny through the tiny tunnel that the vault was hiding and into a brightly lit room, thanks to all the candles and torches that were scattered around the room. The tunnel was a little crawl space, awkward to get into, awkward to get out of. Luckily, Danny was there to give Alyson his hand so she could land somewhat gracefully onto the ground. "Wow."

"I know," grinned Danny. "I just can't believe it! We found de Milo's secret library!"

They looked on the desk at all the books littered around. Danny was having a field day opening books, reading a few lines then moving on to another book. "Well, now that we are here, what are we looking for?" asked Alyson.

Noticing another knob, looking just like the one on the stone craving Alyson exclaimed, "Oh looky!"

She twisted the knob just as she heard Danny warn, "Alyson, no!"

The world turned black and the next moment, Alyson found herself falling.

"Ouf!" she cried as she landed on top of Danny on the floor of the library. She gave him a weak smile. "My bad?"

His glare made her smile falter and she gave an eye roll before sighing and rolling off of him. "Can you explain to me what just happened?"

"I don't know," answered Danny. "But things just keep getting stranger by the second."

"Thank you Captain Obvious," stated Alyson as she got up and dusted herself off. Though the whole being-in-one-place-and-then-getting-transported-to-another thing was kinda cool, it also left her baffled.

"Let's get outta here," suggested Danny, wiping his jeans off.

"I hope you are ready for your next challenge," said Alyson, wanting to get away from the eeriness of the library. It was no longer comforting.

--

Alyson and Danny managed to get back just in time for the challenge to officially start. Being slightly late meant that they had missed Max's spiel about the prizes and the contestants. Alyson was thankful.

First up was Zoe again. She skipped on stage, perky girl that she was, and preformed the classic trick of the rabbits in the hat. Zoe managed to pull out three rabbits from the hat, the last one being extremely fat and appeared to get stuck. Alyson couldn't help but laugh. Max awarded her a six.

Next was Brandon and his levitating light bulb trick. He made it float through the air, around a hoop, and even threw it out into the crowd, teasing Danny with it. He would hold it at arms length, then as Danny would reach for it, Brandon would raise it higher. Danny laughed good naturedly. When Brandon's act was over, he made the light bulb extinguish and was given an eight.

Though confused at why Danny was letting himself be teased like that, Alyson soon found out why. Danny walked out on stage with Brandon and Hunter in an elephant costume, trailing behind him.

"Though known for his famous escapes, I will attempt to reenact Houdini's trick of making a 10 ton elephant disappear. Right off this stage," Danny beamed at the crowd.

Whispering in Danny's ear, Brandon muttered, "I maybe dressed as an elephant, but I sure feel like a horse's butt right now."

"Get over it," ordered Danny, shoving a peanut in Brandon's mouth. Brandon scowled a spat the peanut back at Danny, who drew the curtain closed. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, may I present you with Houdini's-"A shrill shrieking was heard from behind the curtain and it was moving feverishly. "Houdini's vanishing elephant trick!"

The curtain fell with Danny's last words to show a shocked Hunter, the end half of the elephant, on the ground, looking up in fear at Brandon, who was crying on a bucking mechanical bull, hanging on desperately.

Max got up from his seat, shocked. Alyson and Danny exchanged a look, Danny's eyes full of fear. Brandon managed to get thrown from the bull onto the stage, and was helped up by Hunter, who gave Danny a look that could kill.

So Danny did what was becoming a habit for him. He bolted.

Author's Note- Ok, I really wanted to finish this. It was driving me nuts because I wanted to get to a certain part, which I got to, but it didn't come out as nice as I wanted it. Granted, it's 2 in the morning, and I'm tired but can't sleep, so I'm gonna hold off posting this til after I get some sleep or some coffee. We'll see. And I just thought of a cute scene for the next chapter. So hopefully I'll post it soon.

I hope this is soon enough for you laziliterose. Lol. So much for a week. .o


	5. And That Was The Moment She Fell In Love

Author's Note- I'm so sorry about the wait, but life has been a bitch to me lately. I've had the ACTs ((and probably failed them. Unless the last nine answers to the math part is "D" I'm really just screwed.)), then my neighbor died and our families were close. Then I had the AP exams in both history and English to study for. And then, my one good friend just died in a car accident. It was horrible. But while I was moping, I read a lot of X-men fanfics, and I got inspired again. Sorry for the wait, but I'm back! And only like...4-ish more chapters :)

**LazuliteRose- **Your threatening reviews make me feel loved. Had you not be so consistent with the story, I don't think I would have kept writing. So thank you. Hopefully I don't disappoint And I know that I promised you. I sawry.

**Disney Queen**- It's nice to know that you are reading. Your review made me smile :D

Disclaimer: Disclaimers are disheartening to write. It reminds me how broke I am and how I don't own anything.

Alyson huffed in annoyance. This stupid boy and his running. Sprinting after him, Alyson hurried after Danny. "Danny! Danny, stop!" He just kept ignoring her and led her farther and farther from the others. "Daniel!"

Danny turned around and shot his arms out to slam against the wall on either side of Alyson. She pressed herself against the wall, trapped between Danny's arms. The look in his eyes was feral, and she could have sworn that he would snarl at her. Determined to not show her fear, Alyson straightened up and looked Danny in the eye. "Why do you keep running?"

His eyes flashed. "Why do you keep following me!?"

Clenching her fists, Alyson shouted back, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "Because that's what you do with people that you care about… you make sure that they don't do something to hurt themselves when something bad happens!"

Fire dying out, Danny sighed. He rested his forehead against Alyson's. "Look, Alyson. I'm a freak. Dangerous even. I should have never came. I'll just end up harming you. It's best that you stay away. Let me just go into my room, I'll pack up, and leave. I'm sorry I couldn't win it for you."

Danny pulled away, letting his arms drop. Shock came across Alyson's face. "…No. You can't. Danny!"

He turned around, probably intending to warn Alyson again, but was thrown off when Alyson launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on Danny's chest. "Don't leave me," she pleaded into his chest, holding him tight.

She felt him sigh, then promise, "I won't leave you…"

* * *

When the two entered into Mrs. McAlister's "office," they entered a mad house. Everyone was in a craze, shouting things while things were being shouted back at them. Noticing that Danny and Alyson were finally there, Mrs. McAlister motioned for Danny to sit while she regained order. "Ok, ok! One at a time!" she ordered.

Hunter made his statement first. "He" Hunter thrusted a threatening finger at Danny," needs to be taken off the show!"

Immediately, Alyson jumped to Danny's defense. "You are just jealous! Your magician just levitated a 60 watt light bulb, I mean, MY guy just made a mechanical bull appear."

Sighing as if Alyson were a little kid that he had to explain himself to, Hunter stated, "That's exactly my point. There is no possible way he could do that!"

Rolling her eyes at Hunter she retorted, "But he did."

"Ok, how?" asked Hunter, attention moving from Alyson to Danny, who was sitting at a desk, looking nervous. "Tell me how you did your trick."

"A good magician never reveals his secrets," recited Alyson to Hunter. She gave a nod to Danny, who just shrugged, giving her a small smile.

Smirking, Hunter realized, "Or maybe it's because he can't. Because it wasn't a trick."

Entering the conversation, Mrs. McAlister interjected, "Then what are you suggesting?"

Straightening up, Hunter answered, a bit uncertain, "I, uh, think he might be a, erm, maybe, it was real."

The eye rolls and soft laughing were abundant in the room once his words were spoken. Alyson looked at Hunter, questioning the mental state of her normally logical rival, while Danny just stared at his hands. Mrs. McAlister looked doubtful. "Real?"

"Um, yeah. I think he might...I mean, what if he actually had magical powers?" Hunter faded out a bit at the end, realizing how he sounded.

"Oh, yeah," stated Alyson sarcastically. "Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?"

It was obvious that Hunter did know, and yet, it was obvious that he believed. "Look, it's just possible, you know? Think about it. There is a lot of bizarre things we can't explain. Like...like ESP and mind readers...and..."

"And Donald Trump's hair," threw in Cedric.

"Yeah, and people who make mechanical bulls appear out of thin air," finished Alyson, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

Hunter gave a humorless laugh. "While we are at it, I think it was Danny here that made Brandon disappear in the first challenge."

Alyson sighed and turned to Danny. "Look, as much as I believe that it's a total violation of the magician's code, why don't you just tell Hunter your trick so we can just" Alyson threw her hands in the air "move on."

"You heard her, man, give it up," ordered Hunter.

"Yeah dude, tell us how you did it, we really wanna know," whined Brandon.

"Ok fine!" snapped Danny. "You want to know how I did it? Hunter is right. I don't know how I did it. I don't understand anything about it. These things just happen to me!" Glaring at Hunter, he added, "There, are you happy?"

"Very good Danny, that's the ideal answer," drawled Max from the doorway. "You're really learning how to play this game."

Looking confused, Hunter asked, "What? What are you talking about?"

Smirking, Max answered, "Danny just used one of the many tricks we magicians have in our black bag."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," stated Danny, turning to face Max.

"Do you know how many endless illusionists dodge publicity by claiming to have paranormal powers?" asked Max.

"But I'm serious! I have no idea how the mechanical bull got there! Brandon just said that he 'felt like a horse's rear end' and it appeared!" cried out Danny.

"Well, that's very interesting," stated Max, clearly not believing him. "So I'll suppose that you wouldn't mind me getting together a group of experts and testing your claim, now would you?"

"What sort of experts?" asked Mrs. McAlister.

"Well, as president as the World Wide Skeptics I would suggest that you start with me," replied Max.

"World Wide skeptics? You?" Danny looked in shock.

"Surprised? Don't be. No one knows better then a professional magician what nonsense real powers are. In fact there is a long and lustrous history of true magicians debunking paranormal pretenders because what we do is perform practiced entertainment and every fraud that comes along only serves to devalue our skills. So what do you say, young man? Will you agree to settle this nonsense once and for all?"

* * *

Alyson couldn't find Danny after the incident in the office. She didn't even know if he agreed to the testing. As soon as Max asked, Danny excused himself from the room. After exchanging some heated words with Hunter, Alyson went out in search for Danny.

First stop was his room. Knocking on the door, Alyson called out, "Danny? Danny, it's me. Open up!"

When no one answered, Alyson went off to the library, where from a window she watched Max's experts arrive. But still no Danny. Heading off to the secret room, Alyson held her breath. This was the only spot left for Danny to have gone. If he wasn't there, then that meant that he had left her...and that he lied.

* * *

Exhaling the breath she was holding, Alyson didn't realize how high her hopes got as she twisted the lock on the giant value. Once she saw the familiar head of brown hair bent over a book in the secret room, Alyson entered. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "The panel's waiting." Danny was reading a book, and shrugged at this statement. "Hello?" Alyson was tempted to wave her hand in front of his face, but then he moved.

Danny tore his eyes away from his book to look at Alyson's. "Alyson, I can't do this."

"What? Why not?"

"Because whatever way it ends up, it's just gonna be a huge disaster for me."

Alyson's brow crinkled in confusion. "Why? So far you've played it perfectly. Seriously, do you even know what great TV you've been creating?" When Danny's gaze left hers and went back to the book, it dawned on Alyson. "Wait, you don't seriously believe that you have real powers, do you?"

Taking a deep breath, Danny tried to explain. "Look. I'm going to try to explain something to you, but you have to promise me you'll just sit there and quietly and just let me get through it."

Sinking into the seat next to Danny, Alyson replied, "I'll be as silent as a monk. So what's the deal?"

"C'mon. You're a smart girl. Think logically. How did those doves appear in your van? How did Brandon disappear from a stage with no trap door and how is no one missing a mechanical bull that just suddenly appears on stage? I mean, do you honestly believe it's because I'm such a good magician?" Danny was barely keeping in his anger.

"What are you saying?" asked Alyson, trying to follow along.

"I've said this before...I'm a freak," stated Danny, voice slightly cracking. "I'm a freak."

Alyson was trying so hard to believe him, since he believed that he was right. But she was a science girl, and what he was saying was not logical. "Your powers..."

"Look. About three years ago, I was walking home from school and I saw this really cool skateboard. I remembered thinking how much I wanted it, and then, it just appeared underneath me, and I was riding it."

"It just appeared?" interjected Alyson.

"No, I made it appear," cleared up Danny. "And then this one time, a bully was making fun of my hair or my pants or something, and I just wanted him to get lost. And then he was gone! They found him like ten feet up in an oak tree, hanging by his belt loop."

"How is that even possible?"

"That's it! I don't know! Ever since that first incident, I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I can't control my magic, Alyson. I don't know how, or when things are going to happen, they just do!" Danny threw his hands up in defeat.

"It...it must be so scary for you," realized Alyson, finally believing Danny.

Danny gave a humorless laugh. "It is. It's um...it's terrifying," he admitted to her. "That's why I don't have any friends. And that's why I can't get up there in front of those experts. Either nothing will happen and I look like a totally fraud or my powers will go outta control and they recognize this 'great gift of mine' and I'll live on some government operating table being poked and probed like an alien lab rat!"

Sighing deeply, Alyson sympathized. "Look. I can't even come close to saying I'm processing all this, but I certainly do know what it's like to be the outcast. The weirdo. The one that nobody else can ever relate to. Not much fun, right?"

Danny shook his head in agreement. "No, not so much."

Breaking into a small smile, Alyson said, "See? This is why this is so perfect. Maybe all you need through this is just one person. One person who is going to believe in you."

Smiling back, Danny whispered, "And that person is you."

"If you want me to be," answered Alyson. She gave a small shrug. "Isn't that what friends are for?"

Danny smiled and mumbled, "Yeah I guess."

"And you know what else? I think you should go face Max's experts. Maybe they can help you. Maybe they can explain all this." Alyson felt bold and reached for Danny's hand across the table. Slipping her hand into his, she briefly noted how they seem to fit perfectly together; like two puzzle pieces. "What do you really have to lose, Danny? I mean, isn't this why you were so desperate to get here in the first place? To find the truth? These guys might finally give you the answers you need."

Giving her that lop-sided grin that she loved so much, Danny pulled his hand out of Alyson's. "Thanks Alyson. I think I'll do it. But...I think we can make them wait a bit more. I kind of want to collect my thoughts."

"Sure," said Alyson as she got up from her seat. She turned towards the exit, hesitated, and then made up her mind.

Going over to where Danny was sitting, Alyson bent down and wrapped him in a big hug. Hugging her back, Danny drew her into his lap, and they held each other, both gaining strength from the other.

Head tucked under Danny's chin, Alyson leaned into Danny's chest and just listened to his heart beat. If just being here for him was what Danny needed her to do, she could do that for him.

They sat that way for how long, Alyson couldn't tell. But then she heard something. Danny was singing softly.

_Just another morning glory, _

_one more twist inside of this wide ride. _

_Another chapter in the story, _

_but I can't hide, the way I feel inside. _

It was beautiful, Alyson decided. And the fact that he was sharing it with her made it even more special to her.

_Cause I'm a stranger in a strange land, _

_and I'm a million miles from my home. _

_And if I gotta take my last stand, _

_I won't stand alone._

_I won't stand alone. _

_I won't stand alone. _

_I won't stand alone. _

_I won't stand alone. _

When Alyson recognized the second part repeating, she joined in.

_Cause I'm a stranger in a strange land. _

_((Cause you're a stranger in a strange land.))_

_And I'm a million miles from my home. _

_((And you're a million miles from your home.))_

_If I have to take my last stand, _

_((If you have to take your last stand,))_

_I won't stand alone._

_((You won't stand alone.))_

_I won't stand alone. _

_((You won't stand alone.))_

_I won't stand alone. _

_((You won't stand alone.))_

_I won't stand alone._

_((You won't stand alone.))_

The song finished, both of their voices in perfect harmony. Once it was over, they remained in their former positions, neither wanting to get up and face the real world at the moment.

As Alyson closed her eyes and focused on Danny's heartbeat, his smell surrounding her, and the warmth from his body, she realized that that was the exact moment that she fell in love with him.

Author's Note- I so wanted a make out scene. But I don't see that in either character. The hug scene in the way beginning was at first a kiss scene, but I changed it . Trying to slow the story down, in a way. Woot! So I updated! Viva la resistance! Hopefully my lack of updates didn't chase away my two favorite reviewers :)


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